Hey itÂs Mark calling in from Tan Tan. Ah oh.. (laughing) ah I donÂt even know what stage it is already that bad  5th stage I guess. We finished 8th today. It was a stage through the Atlas Mountains and super, super rough and really rocky. As far as how the stage went, we went through a mountain pass that was just unbelievable, it was for like donkeys or something. The first 120 or 130 km I think was just perfect, I mean the car was working and we had made a bunch of time. I think though CP 2 we were leading the stage, or had the fastest time anyway. Between the 2nd check and the 3rd check I got a right rear puncture and immediately after that a left rear puncture, just out of the blue. I felt like my old pal Larry Ragland at the Barstow race in 96, I couldnÂt do anything right. I mean going straight down a road and the thing just punctured.
So, anyway, we changed those and actually got back in and caught back up to Peterhansel again and (laughs) with about 70 km to go started to pick the pace up and got a right front puncture and that was it we only had three spares so I had to completely cruse to the finish about 50 or 60 km. So it was one of those days, finished 8th on the day. The car is perfect so I guess IÂm unlucky or maybe IÂm pushing too hard, I donÂt know. But we will fight tomorrow and keep on going. The weather in Tan Tan is finally warming up, itÂs been like minus degrees Celsius every bivouac so far but itÂs already nice and warm here in Tan Tan. Thanks for checking in and weÂll call in from Zourat tomorrow.
